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In Sweden, the organisation Nordiska förbundet [sv] (active from 2004 to 2010), which founded the online encyclopedia Metapedia in 2006, promoted identitarianism.[21] It mobilised a number of "independent activist groups" similar to their French counterparts, among them Reaktion Östergötland and Identitet Väst, which carried out a number of political actions marked by a certain degree of civil disobedience. A 24-page initial manifesto, aimed at defining the identitarian movement in Northern Europe, was published as Identitet och Metapolitik in 2008.[22]

Austrian identitarians demonstrating in Vienna

The main identitarian youth movement is Génération Identitaire in France, a youth wing of the Bloc Identitaire party.

The origin of the Italian chapter Generazione Identitaria dates from 2012.[23]

Markus Willinger, who grew up in Schärding, Austria, and as of 2013[update] studied history and political science at the University of Stuttgart, published a 2013 manifesto entitled "Generation Identity: A Declaration of War Against the '68ers",[24]
(68ers being people whose political identities are seen[by whom?] as stemming from the social changes of the 1960s,[3] what would be called baby-boomer liberals in the US, or those sympathetic to them) and translated into English from German[25]
by Aetius. The book is considered[by whom?] the manifesto of the Identitäre Bewegung Österreichs, which was founded in 2012.

As their symbol, the European Identitarian movement and Generation Identity use a yellow lambda sign, a symbol that was painted on the shields of the Spartan army – popularized by the film 300 – supposedly to commemorate the Battle of Thermopylae[1] of 480 BCE.

Members of the identitarian movement erected a new summit cross in a "provocative" act (as the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported) on the Schafreuter, after the original one had to be removed because of damage by an unknown person.[30]

In June 2017 the PayPal donations account of the identitarian "Defend Europe" was locked, and the identitarian account of the bank "Steiermärkische Sparkasse" was closed.[31] Defend Europe crowdfunded more than $178,000 to charter a ship in the Mediterranean.[32] It aimed to ferry any rescued migrants back to Africa, to observe any incursions by other NGO ships into Libyan waters, and to report them to the Libyan coastguard.[33] In the event, the ship chartered by GI suffered an engine failure, and had to be rescued by a ship from one of the NGOs rescuing migrants.[34]

In October 2017 key figures of the identitarian movement met in London in efforts to target the United Kingdom, and discussed the founding of a British chapter as a "bridge" to link with radical movements in the US.[15]

The United Kingdom and Ireland branch was launched[by whom?] in late October 2017 after a banner was unfurled on Westminster Bridge reading "Defend London, Stop Islamisation".[35]

On 9 March 2018, Sellner and his girlfriend Brittany Pettibone were barred from entering the UK because their presence was "not conducive to the public good".[36]

Prior the ban, Sellner intended to deliver a speech to the Young Independence party, though they cancelled the event, citing supposed threats of violence from the far-left.[37] Prior to being detained and deported, Sellner intended to deliver his speech at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park.[38] In June 2018 Tore Rasmussen, a Norwegian activist who had previously been denied entry to the United Kingdom, was working in the Republic of Ireland to establish a local branch of Generation Identity.[39]

On 20 May 2017, two non-commissioned officers with the US Marines were arrested for trespassing after displaying a banner from a building in Graham, North Carolina, during a Confederate Memorial Day event. The banner included the identitarian logo, and the phrase "he who controls the past controls the future", a reference to George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, along with the acronym YWNRU, or "you will not replace us". The Marine Corps denounced the behavior and investigated the incident. A marine spokesperson commented to local news “Of course we condemn this type of behavior ... we condemn any type of behavior that is not congruent with our values or that is illegal.” Both men plead guilty to trespassing. One received military administrative punishment. The other was discharged from the corps.[47][48][49]

The movement has been described as being part of the global alt-right,[18][19][20] or as the European counterpart of the American alt-right.[50][51]Hope Not Hate (HNH) has described identitarianism and the alt-right as "ostensibly separate" in origin, but with "huge areas of ideological crossover".[52] Many white nationalists and alt-right leaders have described themselves as identitarians,[53][52] and according to HNH, American alt-right influence is evident in European identitarian groups and events, forming an amalgamated "International Alternative Right".[52] Figures within the Identitarian movements and alt-right often cite Nouvelle Droite founder Alain de Benoist as an influence.[54][53] De Benoist rejects any alt-right affiliation, although he has worked with Richard B. Spencer, and once spoke at Spencer's National Policy Institute. As Benoist stated, "Maybe people consider me their spiritual father, but I don’t consider them my spiritual sons".[53]

According to Christoph Gurk of Bayerischer Rundfunk, one of the goals of identitarianism is to make racism modern and fashionable.[55] Austrian identitarians invited radical right-wing groups from across Europe, including several neo-Nazis groups, to participate in an anti-immigration march, according to Anna Thalhammer of Die Presse.[56] There has also been Identitarian collaboration with the white nationalist activist Tomislav Sunić.[57] The investigation by political scientist Gudrun Hentges came to the conclusion that the identitarian movement is ideologically situated between the French National Front, the Nouvelle Droite, and neo-Nazism.[58]

Virchow, Fabian (2015). "The 'Identitarian Movement': What Kind of Identity? Is it Really a Movement?". In Simpson, Patricia Anne; Druxes, Helga. Digital Media Strategies of the Far Right in Europe and the United States. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. pp. 177–190. ISBN978-0-7391-9881-0.